Activation
Presentation
Discussions
Part/Whole Relationships
The reality of a class like this is that for any topic there will be some who are interested and some who are not.Sometimes it helps to see some aspect of the current topic as an example of a more general issue.
Here is an interesting issue related to reading instruction that probably generalizes to many areas.
Reading is a very complex skill (e.g., vocabulary, word identification, comprehension). One approach that is used in teaching reading is to isolate some of these skills for practice - i.e., skill building. As those of you interesting in technology probably recognize software developers have developed many products that teachers can use to provide students practice on specific skills. If you do not recognize examples of this type, think worksheets.
Isolating skills for practice is controversial. At least, many experts seem to feel that we do too much isolated practice.
I want you to take a skill and level of instruction that interests you (e.g., basketball, math, writing) and comment on this issue. Give examples of sub-skills that are isolated for development, why you think this is done, and any problems you see in this instructional approach.
